Mnesic Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Yesterday I joined the gym, and today I'm going for the first time. I have an orientation to go to today, but I'm pretty intimidated to work out.. I never worked out before and it seems silly to me really.. I don't have school or work at the moment so I plan on being a gym rat going once a day or more. Also the reason behind why i joined the gym is to help cope with my break up. I'm 18 YO, 5'8 and 133 pounds. I want to gain 15 pounds of muscle.. or more even. I have this link http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/12-week-beginners-training-routine.html, do you guys and gals think its a good enough routine to follow? And what are the benefits of protein power and do I need it? What should I know before I start going? Link to post Share on other sites
Chocolat Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Yesterday I joined the gym, and today I'm going for the first time. I have an orientation to go to today, but I'm pretty intimidated to work out.. I never worked out before and it seems silly to me really.. I don't have school or work at the moment so I plan on being a gym rat going once a day or more. Also the reason behind why i joined the gym is to help cope with my break up. I'm 18 YO, 5'8 and 133 pounds. I want to gain 15 pounds of muscle.. or more even. I have this link http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/12-week-beginners-training-routine.html, do you guys and gals think its a good enough routine to follow? And what are the benefits of protein power and do I need it? What should I know before I start going? The routine you've posted seems like a shotgun approach -- you do a little of everything and hopefully something will stick. IMO, I would get a copy of New Rules of Lifting and look at the routines there. Or Google for Rippetoe's Starting Strength - also good. Train 3-4 days a week. More is not necessarily better and can be worse. You definitely do not want to be in the gym "once a day or more." EAT!!! You need lots of good-quality protein as well as everything else. Keep the calories up - you probably need ~2800 for growth. Sleep! Link to post Share on other sites
tman666 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 First of all, congratulations on making the choice to join a gym and deciding to commit to going. There will be days that you feel unmotivated, tired, stressed, sick, etc. Just remember that your hard work over a long period of time will pay off. Don't be intimidated by not knowing your way around the gym at first. While commercial gyms are generally filled with an abundance of weight machines, cardio machines, free weights, barbells, medicine balls, chains, ropes, plates, etc., there's no need to feel like you have to learn it all in one day. Also remember that you aren't nearly as visible as you think you might be. You might feel that everyone is watching you as make mistakes, discover your strengths and weaknesses, and trip over your own feet (so to speak). They're not (unless they're complete *******s). People will be there sweating, grunting, and trying to stay focused just like you. On to more technical aspects, I think you'll find that the routine you posted will get you almost nowhere in terms of actual visible results. The only redeeming quality I can see is that it would be exposing you to a wide variety of non-technical exercises and allow you to get comfortable in a gym setting. There's no way I'd stick with it for 12 weeks though. I would suggest doing that routine for no more than 6 weeks. I understand the logic of the need to prepare your body for more serious training, as the author states, but devoting 12 weeks to such a routine seems goofy to me... Just my 2 cents though. For more serious training, the keys are balancing intensity, frequency, and volume. Intensity refers to the amount of weight you're lifting. It can also refer to the speed at which you're lifting (explosive lifts such as squats, deadlifts, and Olympic lifts are more intense than calf raises, for example). Frequency refers to how often you're exercising a muscle, usually in terms of days. Volume refers to how many repetitions you're performing for each muscle or muscle group. The thing you need to keep in mind is that you can maximize two of the variables at a time, but not all three. For example, you can lift heavy (high intensity) every day (high frequency), but you'll have to keep the volume low (likely less than 15-30 reps) to allow your body to recover properly. Recovery is equally important as your training. Conversely, you could lift with high intensity at a high volume, but you will probably only be able to hit that muscle group once or twice per week. There's no magical answer on how you should be training. It depends on your goals. For example, powerlifters and Olympic lifters tend to lift with very high intensity at at fairly high frequency, but they generally keep their volume low. Since their goal is strength and power, a high intensity/high frequency/low volume approach suits them. Bodybuilders, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with building the size of their muscles and focusing on symmetry and proportions. They generally train muscle groups with high to moderate intensity, high to very high volume, and low to moderate frequency. Again, how you train will depend on your goals. There is some level of carryover between different styles. As you might have noticed, the key ingredient is intensity. To gain muscle, you need to get stronger. End of story. This doesn't mean that you have to train like a powerlifter or concern yourself with obsessing over what lift percentages you have to hit that day or anything like that (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that either). You do, however, need to be concerned with gradually and progressively increasing each of your lifts. This doesn't mean that you have to add weight to the bar each time you go lift. If you go from squatting 135 lbs for 5 reps to squatting 135 lbs for 12 reps, you've gotten stronger. Exercise selection is also important. The program you posted has you performing many different "small" exercises, but steers you away (most likely by design) from focusing on the "big" or "main" exercises that every serious lifter focuses on. Compound, multi-joint exercises such as squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, pull ups, dips, etc. will eventually become the focal points of your training. Compound exercises will help you develop true strength, balanced musculature, and burn fat more effectively than single joint exercises such as curls, triceps push downs, calve raises, pec dec flyes, leg extensions, leg curs, etc. That doesn't mean that you should ditch the accessory exercises, but they should compliment your workout, not be the focus of them. Solid lifting doesn't have to be complicated. A simple 5x5 program will do. Beyond that, hard work, time, and plenty of food will help you find the results you're looking for. While it's a lengthy read, I would highly recommend you read the e-book called Maximum Muscle by Matt Perryman. It's free. The link is below: http://www.ampedtraining.com/maximum-muscle Keep in mind that this a long term road. Set "S.M.A.R.T." training goals for yourself: http://smarttrainingla.com/. While it sounds sort of lame, it's a method of goal setting that will help you progress. One thing about supplements and protein powders: Supplement companies prey on guys like you. They'll tell you anything to sell you overpriced pills and powders that don't do much of anything, especially at non-advanced levels. A basic whey protein is fine to use post-workout, but realize that your results will be vastly more affected by your regular ol' nutrition than any supplement. That's not to say that there aren't supplements that don't do anything. However, at the stage you're at, hard work, heavy lifting, time, and plenty of food is all you need. Save your money for taking girls out on dates. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Mnesic Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 The routine you've posted seems like a shotgun approach -- you do a little of everything and hopefully something will stick. IMO, I would get a copy of New Rules of Lifting and look at the routines there. Or Google for Rippetoe's Starting Strength - also good. Train 3-4 days a week. More is not necessarily better and can be worse. You definitely do not want to be in the gym "once a day or more." EAT!!! You need lots of good-quality protein as well as everything else. Keep the calories up - you probably need ~2800 for growth. Sleep! WOW 2800 calories my intake is usually around 1200 or less. I will definitely need protein powder, and what do you mean by shotgun approach? Thank you Link to post Share on other sites
Chocolat Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 WOW 2800 calories my intake is usually around 1200 or less. I will definitely need protein powder, and what do you mean by shotgun approach? Thank you I think you must be eating more than 1200 calories or you'd be losing weight -- fast! Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1635 calories. That represents the number of calories you'd need if you did nothing but sleep 24/7. You then factor in your activity level. Assuming you are mostly sedentary, we can use a multiplier of 1.2 to get to 1962 calories as the number of calories you currently consume to maintain your weight. The 2800 number was a suggestion so you can gain some mass, which is what I am assuming you want to do. Here are some good sites for you: BMR calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ Activity Level Calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/ Fitday: www.fitday.com Fitday is helpful for logging your calories. It will show you exactly how much you are eating, broken down by protein, fat, carbs and alcohol. Once you have a good understanding of your current intake, increase by 500 calories a day for a couple of weeks (by this I mean, if you are currently eating 1962 calories a day, eat 2462 a day for at least 2 weeks). Then, adjust as needed. As for shotgun approach... tman explained it in his post. The routine you posted has you doing a zillion different exercises but no intensity in any one. It's like trying to learn algebra by reading 1 paragraph from 20 different books rather than reading an entire chapter in one book. What are your goals? Link to post Share on other sites
Author Mnesic Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Tman666 thank you for your very very detailed post. I think I might even need a personal trainer now.. I didn't think weight lifting was this complicated. For now I'll just see the gym and learn the different equipment afterwards Ill try to find a good routine. And thanks for the links, I'm downloading it right now. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Mnesic Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 I think you must be eating more than 1200 calories or you'd be losing weight -- fast! Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1635 calories. That represents the number of calories you'd need if you did nothing but sleep 24/7. You then factor in your activity level. Assuming you are mostly sedentary, we can use a multiplier of 1.2 to get to 1962 calories as the number of calories you currently consume to maintain your weight. The 2800 number was a suggestion so you can gain some mass, which is what I am assuming you want to do. Here are some good sites for you: BMR calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ Activity Level Calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/ Fitday: www.fitday.com Fitday is helpful for logging your calories. It will show you exactly how much you are eating, broken down by protein, fat, carbs and alcohol. Once you have a good understanding of your current intake, increase by 500 calories a day for a couple of weeks (by this I mean, if you are currently eating 1962 calories a day, eat 2462 a day for at least 2 weeks). Then, adjust as needed. As for shotgun approach... tman explained it in his post. The routine you posted has you doing a zillion different exercises but no intensity in any one. It's like trying to learn algebra by reading 1 paragraph from 20 different books rather than reading an entire chapter in one book. What are your goals? Oh I see.. Thank you , hmm well I'm average weight for my height but my whole body is soft. I want to tone out my whole body and maybe work for a 6 Pack, I have until the end of summer but I will be continue to work out when I go back to school. Im not sure how much muscle I want to gain but maybe 15 pounds and i need to burn off most of my fat Link to post Share on other sites
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